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Incidentally, his rental car had been rendered completely unusable. He started to seriously consider whether he could call it a public expense and get reimbursed. |
“It’s a good thing this is a tourist area. Electric carts are a lot simpler than a normal car. You’re supposed to input a four digit number, but you can bypass that and start them by opening the cover and connecting a single cord to an open port on the circuit board.” |
A certain company had a few different models of electric cart and each one had different types of security, but they all used the same circuit board. Depending on the model of the cart it was for, different electronic parts were connected to that circuit board and different ones of the several input ports were chosen. ... |
However, holes for electronic parts and input ports not needed for that model still existed. |
A common circuit board was used to reduce costs, but that meant a signal could be sent through a route the machine was not made to handle. It was possible to cause an intentional error. |
It was because of his interest in those kinds of things that the president was sometimes called the swindler who had risen to a higher position than any other swindler in history. If he was not careful, Hollywood was likely to make a movie about it. |
Accelerator clicked his tongue while breathing shallowly. |
“…If we had taken one of those damn reinforcements with us, we could’ve gotten some information.” |
“That’s too much of a burden. I’m no Hollywood star; I can’t carry two people at once.” The president gave a light smile. “More importantly, you need to do something about that blood. I’m only borrowing this. I’d like for this to end up being a cart of good fortune that is rumored to have been driven by the president, ... |
“If you need something to use as a bandage or gauze, take this.” |
The president handed him a lace handkerchief. It did not look like a man’s handkerchief, but that may just have been part of the strategy he used in regard to his image. Accelerator took it with an irritated look on his face. |
“…Why did woman’s underwear come out with it?” |
“Sorry, sorry. That belonged to a career woman I met at a bar two days ago. At some point, it found its way into my pocket.” |
Accelerator tossed the women’s underwear aside and glared over at the president. |
“How much do you have to do with this incident?” |
“That’s what I want to know from you, Japanese boy. This is my country. Do you realize you’re having a barbecue in someone else’s yard without asking?” |
“Currently, the occult is running rampant through the White House and Congress. Its tentacles have spread through the military, the police, and the intelligence agencies. The phenomena you saw back there have eaten into all of the public institutions. In some cases, it has reached people who have the authority to decid... |
“…In concrete terms, how far has it spread?” |
“Who knows? It could be a few hundred people or it could be a few thousand. It’s beyond the point where we can tell that kind of thing. What I do know is that something isn’t right in this country. There’s no convenient test, so telling apart the affected and the unaffected is difficult. Areas that were safe the day be... |
“Is it Gremlin?” |
“What’s that?” |
“A magic cabal…that is, a group that uses the occult…that is hiding here in Hawaii. To be honest, I don’t know many of the details myself.” |
“Does someone in that group have the power to control people?” |
“…I see. So you’re a Japanese hunting dog that has chased the rabbit here and so we’re starting to catch glimpses of the enemy’s tail in our sights.” |
But if what Roberto said was true, it was possible Gremlin’s influence was not confined to Hawaii. |
It would mean they had eaten into the entire country. |
The enemy could possibly wield the military and intelligence gathering power of that nation. |
“(…Dammit, Birdway. What was that about an incident possibly occurring? If you want to stop this, you need to start moving before it’s already checkmate.)” |
The president operated the steering wheel as he drove up onto the freeway. The electronic cart had no windows or walls, so a dry wind blew on them. |
Accelerator and President Roberto Katze had a common enemy. |
All the circumstances were connected. |
Accelerator started thinking about that fact, but joining forces with the president did not give them the power of America itself. After all, the country was already being eaten into by Gremlin. He decided joining forces with Roberto Katze as an individual was the best they could hope for. |
“So these occult bastards making up this Gremlin group are controlling important people within the US in order to take over the center of the government and the military,” said Roberto. |
“…Or that’s what I thought.” |
“If so, what happened back there was odd. Do you remember? That girl controlling people with the occult was using those children as shields and having them target normal people.” |
“Are you talking about how that group of what seemed like professional soldiers cut in partway through? Their equipment was weird, too. That CD-like uniform was electronic camouflage. That’s meant to be used against high-tech sensors, not people. But I thought no military actually used it because they all hated how it ... |
“If they had been planning to use those soldiers from the beginning, they would have simply relied on them instead. I don’t see why they would go out of their way to use those normal people who could possibly turn on them.” |
“And yet the magician used them.” |
“There is something there. We’re just not seeing it.” |
Part 24[edit] |
“There we go,” muttered Birdway as she looked at the papyrus. |
It was the spiritual item she was using to automatically analyze the magician’s spell. |
Kamijou, Hamazura, and Kuroyoru looked at the papyrus, but they could not understand what they were seeing. |
Birdway ignored them. |
“She is indeed from the Russian Orthodox Church. Mark, compress the analysis data from the papyrus and send it to our contact with the Russian Orthodox Church. Ask them—politely—if they have any idea who she could be.” |
“…Do you really think they will answer honestly?” |
“As the main battlefield of World War III, Russia is in the process of being restored by Academy City’s technology and America’s funds. Gremlin is currently damaging both of those. Tell them any delays on our part could have a major effect on their recovery.” |
Kamijou made sure not to touch the spiritual item and asked, “Do you know how her magic works? What’s its weak point?” |
“Ugh, someone explain it to him.” |
“Ah, I have a response from the Russian Orthodox Church. That was incredibly fast. Especially for a bureaucratic job,” Mark cut in. |
“That last comment must have done its job,” said Birdway as she snatched the tablet computer from him. “Her name is Saronia A. Irivika. Fourteen years old. Comes from Yekaterinburg. She proudly thinks of herself as European and hates having Russia be called part of Asia more than anything. Well, that last bit is about ... |
She used her index finger to scroll down. |
“During World War III, she was deployed to Vladivostok to stop Academy City forces from landing, but had little to do since the invasion was primarily carried out by supersonic bombers. She disappeared in the confusion of the end of the war. Her whereabouts since then are unknown.” |
Those created by the war who did not wish for the war to end. |
“So is this Saronia trying to overturn the result of the war as a Russian soldier…?” asked Hamazura |
“It’s possible,” Birdway replied as she shoved the tablet computer back toward Mark. |
“Then is Gremlin a group of those who lost the war and want a comeback? Do they just want to redo the war?” |
“I thought I told you personal objectives had more of a priority than an overall ideology. The group and an individual will not necessarily align. It would best to have as few preconceptions about them as we can.” |
Suddenly, Kamijou’s cell phone started to ring. |
He answered it to find it was from Accelerator. |
“I know what Gremlin is after. I don’t know what their ultimate objective is, but I know what one of the means to get there is.” |
“One of the means to get there?” |
Kamijou quickly switched over to speakerphone so everyone there could join in the conversation. |
As soon as he did, Accelerator got to the core of the issue. |
“Gremlin seems to be trying to obtain the Trigger.” |
“The Trigger…? That’s rather vague. Is it from the science side or the magic side?” |
“Technically, it’s called the Small Scale Induction-Style Active Volcano Controlling Device, but that’s a pain to say, so they call it the Trigger. The device is being developed by the American military.” |
“…I don’t like the sound of that name.” |
“As the name suggests, it’s a toy used to control the activities of an active volcano. It can’t stop a volcanic eruption, but by distributing the energy of the explosion, it can control the damage done. To keep it simple, you can think of it as a device that uses a special combination of explosives to apply stimuli to ... |
In addition to the avalanches and pyroclastic flows that directly damaged the areas at the foot of the volcano, air lanes had been cut off by volcanic ash in recent years. Given how much economic damage from natural disasters such a device would avoid, it was certainly worth researching. |
“You’re saying Gremlin is after that?” |
“To be specific, the people being controlled by Gremlin all seem to have been searching for data on this Trigger,” spat out Accelerator. “But the Trigger really only applies the proper stimuli to the underground magma and that’s it. If it’s intentionally used incorrectly, it could be used to cause a major eruption.” |
If Gremlin was after the Trigger, it was almost guaranteed that they were planning to cause a major eruption in some active volcano. In fact, that was about the only way the Trigger could be used. |
But where? |
Which active volcano was Gremlin going to detonate? |
“Kilauea,” replied Accelerator. “That’s the largest active volcano in the Hawaiian islands, so that has to be it.” |
“Kilauea, hm?” muttered Birdway quietly. “The opening at its peak alone is over a kilometer in diameter and it has other smaller openings lined up for twenty or thirty kilometers.” |
“…The Trigger is a system that can artificially cause volcanic eruptions, right?”’ asked Kamijou. |
Accelerator clicked his tongue and responded. |
“If Gremlin uses the Trigger, they can even cause eruptions that would be impossible naturally. In the worst case, it’s possible they could send lava erupting from all of the openings at once.” |
“Kilauea is on the island of Hawaii and over eighty percent of its area is mountainous. The network of roads has brought development onto the mountainsides, but most of the population is still focused in the few level areas.” |
“So if Kilauea has a serious eruption…the lava would all flow there…?” |
And that’s only what would happen with a normal eruption,” said Accelerator. “If an artificial eruption is caused using the Trigger, it will not end there. Apparently, Kilauea will start a chain reaction that will spread through underground connections to Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualalai, causing them all to erupt. I... |
“Well, all of the island of Hawaii will be washed over with lava,” said Birdway easily as she ignored Kamijou and Hamazura who had fallen speechless. “If you add the residents and tourists together, I guess the death toll would probably be around 500,000. It isn’t fun to think about, but it is on the scale of what I wo... |
[v d e]Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament |
[v d e]Side Stories |
Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare |
Toaru Majutsu No Index: Love Letter SS |
Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament SS |
Toaru Majutsu no Index: Shokuhou Misaki Figurine SS |
Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament Bonus Short Story |
Toaru Majutsu no Index: Thus Spoke the Kumokawa Sisters |
[v d e]Official Parody Stories |
A Certain Parody Index |
A Certain Academy Index |
A Certain Gift Exchange |
A Certain March 201st Novel |
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 |
Arr, Matey |
I love that somebody finally stood up to the pirates in Somalia. First, the crew took back control of their ship, and then the US Navy used SEAL sharpshooters to kill the remaining pirates when it looked like they were going to kill the captain of the Maersk Alabama. There are two reasons that piracy is suddenly all ... |
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